Broken
by Golden Lunar Eclipse
Summary: Vlad knows his ideal world is not meant to be and he knows who is responsible for his broken dreams. Taking his revenge he captures those who have hurt him, bent on their destruction. One shot.


GLE – Hello all! This is a dark story that randomly came out of me last night as I was studying (cough) for my exam today (yay! One down, three to go! Will be done this school year by next Monday!) (Ah! Don't kill me Fey and Esme! I did ok on the exam, I swear!). Note, this is a one-shot, which means that this is the only chapter and I will not be adding to it (I get confused when people Story Alert my _poems_…). Anyways, ya, it's rated for violence, some torture, and lots of death threats (speaking of which, my next exam is impending, so I'd really better go study).

My sister, Fey, and I were discussing Vlad after seeing KS. She pointed out this "look" that he had had. It was during the ghostly wail as Maddie and Jack faded (they were superimposed on Vlad, and Vlad was dead center between them). Vlad looked at them sadly, then turned his head to look towards Danny, then turned away. "What was he thinking when he looked at Danny?" Fey wondered. "I think everything's fallen apart and Danny is to blame." She answered herself. "Vlad may not hold back around Danny anymore. This time may have been the last straw…"

And with that I leave you to enter my story on your own. As usual, the power of ownership of _Danny_ _Phantom_ does not reside with me, much to my dismay. Enjoy your reading and good luck to anyone else taking a break from their exams!

-(-)-

Broken

The first thought that came to his head as the light began to seep through the dimness of his eyelids and a pounding headache seemed to return with vengeance was that a ghost had stolen his ecto-gun before he could reach it. Silly thought it was now as blurriness became his vision and half-sleep blended with reality. Was it a dream? He tried to shift his weight (though all was spinning), and discovered to add to his confusion that he couldn't move. He realized in horror as shapes took form that he was positioned upright and his arms and legs were bound to the wall behind him. The figures materializing in front of him appeared to be the makings of a lab similar to his own; counters covered with gadgets, machines of various sizes in the middle of the room, and monitors mounted on walls. And to the left, barely in the edge of his view stood an arch that could pass for a ghost portal. The sharp sound of laughter caught his attention.

"Good, good, you're awake," a nasally voice emitted from the man who had laughed. "I've been waiting," he said simply enough.

"W-who… are…?" It was hard to make coherent speech. His head must've been hit by a bus.

"You'll know, all in good time. But for now, I'm going to have a little fun."

The man strode forward.

"Welcome to my lab, Jack. I hope you enjoy your stay," he said in a mocking tone as he grabbed Jack's chin between his thumb and forefinger and forced him to stare into his eyes.

Red eyes full of hatred. Red eyes smeared with a crazed obsession and perhaps a lust for Jack's blood. Red eyes that felt betrayed. Red eyes of jealousy.

This man was no man, Jack knew now, he was a ghost and Jack was at his mercy.

The ghost let go of Jack's face and spun around. He walked away several paces before attacking. It happened so fast Jack barely felt the initial sting. The ghost had aimed an angry (yet reserved) blast at Jack's stomach. Then he melted with his surroundings and appeared again by Jack's side to punch him in the face. He flew around the room preparing for another shot when he changed his mind and landed gracefully back down on the ground, his white cape swirling behind him. Seeing the cape, Jack's memory screamed déjà-vu, and the name _Wisconsin Ghost_ filled his mind. So he was in Wisconsin? The last thing he remembered–

"Enough games for now. That was just the appetizer. The real show's about to begin. And what a show it will be. I've been waiting for this for over twenty years…"

The ghost walked to the far wall where a large tank was covered by a curtain.

He turned around to speak again. "But first, I suppose, it would only be right for me to tell you a story. What you are about to see is only one of many accidents your stupidity has created. Well, that is whether or not he chooses to reveal himself… it should be entertaining in any case."

The ghost suddenly doubled himself and one of them phased into the tank. The other positioned himself to remove the curtain. A scream came from behind the glass. The boy was resisting. No matter, his powers couldn't compare and he was already weakened from their earlier bout. They would pay. Both father and son. He was right, for a moment later the boy gave in to his possessor and was forced to transform. He left the child in that state to return to his double as he pulled down the cloth.

Light briefly blinded him as he stared out of the tank, now beyond the glass. He was aware of his ghost-form and of his arch-enemy leering at him, smug with his accomplishment. And looking across the room his stomach dropped.

"Dad!" he yelled without thinking. "Uh, I mean Jack! Let him go!"

Jack exposed a confused face as the other merely grinned, cupping his ear in his hand. And then a voice whispered right next to his own ear, or maybe just in his head, "He can't hear you, Danny. What should I do with him?" the voice taunted.

"No! Let him go Plasmius! Or I swear, I'll—"

"You'll what? Oh please, tell me what you could possibly do from your position – apart from revealing yourself to your father."

Danny's struggles subsided in his helplessness. What could he do to stop him? He gazed back across the lab to where Jack was pinned to the wall and frowned in worry. Jack looked from him to the ghost controlling the situation and knew at once that they were not working together. Perhaps he should give the ghost boy credit… again. He remembered a time when they had worked together to get away from this very same ghost to try to save his family from the ghost portal blowing up. Jack startled as he went over that thought again – this Wisconsin Ghost really did have it in for him. But, _why_?

"This story that I'm going to tell you begins with an ordinary teenage boy," said the ghost, catching Jack's attention. "He was shy and unpopular and belonged to a very unusual family. One day, his curiosity got the best of him, and he ventured into his parents' workspace to test out one of their machines. His parents had been careless; letting him have access to such dangerous work, and leaving the work in a state of incompleteness, unstable to anyone wanting to test such things. The boy, of course, ended up in an accident, and the result, my friend, is sitting there, in that tank."

The ghost pointed behind himself to Danny Phantom, raising his eyes suggestively. Danny Phantom died in an accident from his parents' machine then? But, what could this have to do with him?

Danny saw his enemy pointing at him. What was he telling his father? Another look of confusion from the large, bound man confirmed that he still didn't know Danny's secret identity. _I've got to get out of here_, Danny thought. He knew a ghost-human shield was surrounding the tank he was in, and he wouldn't be able to break through it. If he could use the ghostly wail, he might be able to get out, but he was too weak, he was barely holding his ghost form.

Plasmius returned to the glass in front of Danny. He smirked and punched a couple of buttons on a keypad attached to the tank. Straps clamped onto Danny's arms, legs, stomach, and neck to hold him tight within his cage. Then the ghost shield went down, and Plasmius removed the glass. A few moments later, the ghost shield returned, and Danny was released. He fell to his hands and knees on the floor of the tank.

"I've caught Jack here up on your story, Daniel, and I've decided that now it would only be fair if there were no sound barriers between you. I've got some more surprises in store for you. Both of you."

"Plasmius," Danny panted as he stood up again, rubbing the front of his neck where the strap had dug into him as it had chained him. "Don't hurt him."

"I thought we'd already determined that you were in no position to argue?"

"Dude, you are such a fruitloop!" Danny commented, grasping for some sort of leverage.

Plasmius shot him a warning glare that ended up forming physically in an attack ray from his eyes to the ground in front of Danny's tank. He recomposed himself quickly and laughed quietly. "Perhaps I should hurry this up a little then? Oh, but I was having so much fun."

Danny noticed the cuts and bruises on his father's face and frowned defiantly. But before he could think of a retort, Jack spoke up.

"Why am I here?" he grunted, regaining his ability for speech.

Plasmius smiled widely before changing his expression into one of sinister anger.

"You are being held accountable for your sins. You ruined my life when you created me. And you ruined your son's life as well, when you created him. Everything you do, Jack Fenton, is a clumsy mistake with dire consequences. The only thing you do well is create weapons for me to steal and to improve. In fact, everything you've done, thus far, has acted as a weapon in some way, including myself and your son."

"Danny? What does this have to do with him? You haven't hurt him, have you? _Have you_?"

The ghost laughed and Jack's worries doubled. The last thing he remembered before waking up here was Danny's shout of "No!" and seeing Danny Phantom hovering in his lab. He thought the ghost child was attacking his son, and he reached for his ecto-gun… then everything went black. But, if the Phantom boy was over there, then he obviously wasn't the one hurting Danny.

"Your stupidity and naivety astound me. Have you not figured it out yet?"

Danny's panic levels kicked up a notch and he said warningly, "Plasmius! Remember what I said to you the first time we met? It hasn't changed. You say it, and I will to, and then there won't be any secrets – or any hope of you getting with my mom… not that there really is any now, but that's beside the point."

Plasmius shook his head condescendingly. "Danny, Danny, Danny. Don't you understand? _I don't care anymore!_ Your entire family has become a pain in my side, and I won't stand for it. The fun Plasmius you once knew won't come back until well after you no longer exist… Now, where were we?"

_Oh crud_, thought Danny. Plasmius doesn't care anymore? That didn't sound like him. Didn't he obsess over his mother for 20 years? Didn't he obsess over having Danny as a son for the past year? Was he really sick of it all? If he was… Danny and his father were in real danger.

Jack didn't know what was going on. They both shared secrets of each other – they were blackmailing each other? And the ghost, Plasmius, wanted the boy's mother? Jack's head gave a throb and he promptly stopped trying to comprehend the situation.

"Would you like to know, Jack Fenton, who the boy's parents were? Which idiots created him?"

This was going somewhere Jack felt would not be good.

"Come on Daniel, now's your chance to fess up."

Plasmius aimed a light shot at a lever on Danny's tank, and it clicked to the "on" position. Electricity filled Danny's cage and shocked him. He screamed out in pain and tried to resist fainting, but it was no use. He fell to the ground in the light, and felt the transformation occur through the shocks. Plasmius flew to pull the lever back to "off". Danny's head lay in his hands, and some tears of agony had slid down his cheeks. His dark hair was a mess and his clothes were slightly charred.

Slowly he lifted his head to look up at his father, his blue eyes fearful and begging forgiveness. Jack's mouth sagged in disbelief and his expression carried nothing short of astonishment.

"_Danny_?" Jack whispered.

Danny didn't speak for a moment. He didn't know what to say. He uttered all he could think of, "Dad… I…"

"Oh, isn't this a touching reunion? Yes Jack, your own son is half a ghost, and you call yourself a ghost expert? How could you miss something so obvious sitting right under your roof, right under your nose?"

"Vlad! What do you want with us?" shouted Danny angrily, shakily sliding back up to a standing position, using the wall behind him for support once he got to it. "I'm no longer in the mood for your banter. Get to the point already."

"Danny?" Jack said again in a hoarse voice. And then as it clicked in his head, "_Vlad_?"

"Oh Jack, how could you have been so careless? Your mistake caused me a painful accident. Your mistake lost me the love of my life. Your mistake is why I am bitterly alone. _This is all your fault_!"

"V… V-man?" Jack asked tentatively, hoping it wasn't true.

"Oh who else would it be, you nincompoop!" And with that, Vlad stood back letting the transformation overtake him and turning human again. "I've waited for this moment for years. Vengeance shall be sweet."

"You!" Jack said in horror. His best friend? How could this happen? The accident in college? Had he been angry for all these years about that? And there was Danny across the room in the tank. His own son was as monstrous as the man standing in front of him. What must Danny think of him now?

"I've prepared another little appetizer before I kill you. Daniel here has been a sore spot to many ghosts. He has been irritating and a downright spoiler of plans. Most ghosts can attest to his 'policing' of the human world and would love to get a piece of him. But today, I give them you." Vlad walked towards the arch in his wall and took on his ghost form once more. He opened the portal to the Ghost Zone and invited in the spirits behind it. "Here you are, the man who created Danny Phantom, at your disposal. Just, don't kill him… that's for me to do."

Several ghosts peeked their heads into the room. Among them floated in Ember, Skulker, Technus, the Box Ghost, Kitty, Johnny 13 and his Shadow, the Lunch Lady, Walker, and many other ghosts who Danny recognized. Alarmed, Danny yelled to them, "No! Wait! Don't hurt him!"

The ghosts coming into the room turned their attention to Danny.

"Ya, it may be because of him that I exist, but he didn't choose to fight you, I did! Attack me instead!"

"No, Danny! Son, Vlad's right! I created you! It's my fault you had that accident! Come on, spooks! You think you're all tough! Let's see what you've got! I bet you couldn't hit a… a fat man in an orange jumpsuit if you were even aiming at him!"

His dad was protecting him, Danny knew, but those ghosts could be vicious. This was Danny's responsibility. They were _his_ enemies, not his father's. Danny felt vulnerable in his inability to save Jack. He became Phantom again with some returning strength, though he still couldn't break through the ghost shield… which also meant he couldn't be harmed… Vlad wanted him to watch his dad suffer.

"Dad!" came a yell as the first blow hit him square on his chest. It wasn't Danny's voice. It was Jazz's.

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention. I have your whole family here Jack," said Vlad. He was standing next to a cage that had previously been covered by a cloth and more glass. Inside the cage was now revealed the two Fenton women; Jazz and her mother, Maddie. "If only they would love me I would spare them. But it's too late for that now. You have irked me for too long and I won't watch another plan dissolve before my eyes. You could have had everything, Daniel. Such a disappointment. But I've lived alone for so long, what's another few _friends_ dead to me? Hmm?"

"But you still love her, don't you?" Danny asked in desperation. "Isn't she still the one you want?"

Plasmius waved it aside. "I'm tired of this, Daniel. It's over."

Jazz was watching her father being beaten up. She knew some of the ghosts there, and cringed every time an attack would hit its target. There was no way out of the cage. They were being trapped by a ghost-human shield, no doubt. If only she still had the ecto-gun, but Vlad had taken it from her after he had attacked her father and Danny. She still had bad aim, and Vlad had the advantage of being in four places at once – one for her, one for dad, and two for Danny. Mom had been upstairs and was kidnapped after Danny had been defeated.

"That's enough, now," stated Vlad to the ghosts. "It's my turn to deal with them. You can go do whatever it is you want to do. Just, leave," he ordered.

The ghosts complied reluctantly, but knew better than to get on his bad side. Plasmius turned to stare longingly at Maddie, but then his expression hardened.

"You would never love me, would you? Even if I was the last man on Earth? How could I have so foolishly wasted and devoted so many years to hoping you'd come round and see what you were missing?"

Maddie sat up and asked heatedly, "_Who are you_?"

Ignoring her question, Vlad turned to face Danny, a mixture of sadness and contempt in his eyes.

"I offered you a place by my side. I offered to train you. All you had to do was renounce your father and become my son! We could've ruled the world together!"

"Ya, and you tried to clone me too. How important could I really have been to you then? A cheap imitation of me seemed to be what was going to fulfill your desires."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear another word from you."

"I won't be quiet unless you make me, _Plasmius_. What have you got? Cool powers, a big castle and lab? _So what_? All the power in the world won't make anyone love you. You're nothing."

"I said SHUT UP!" Vlad roared as he soared to Danny's tank. He lowered the ghost-human shield and pounced on Danny, both hands around his neck.

"Now… you've made… a mistake…" Danny spluttered.

"I think not, dear boy! I could kill you now. You mean nothing to me anymore! Nothing, do you hear?"

"So… you're going to… become… a murderer, too? After… all that thieving…" Danny was finding it harder to breathe.

"Didn't you listen when I told you my plans? I'm going to kill your father and you. I'm going to kill your whole family for what you've done to me. All of you! And I will enjoy every moment of it," Vlad said viciously.

"Then… what… will you… have? You'll… be alone… forever…"

"I don't have time for this anymore, Daniel. Time to die."

Danny took that as his cue, as he himself was nearing passing out, and he blasted Vlad away from his body by placing his hands on his stomach and shooting. Air felt so good on his lungs, he took it in gulps before standing up for the battle. Vlad moved faster and with more agility than Danny had experience to do so, and knocked Danny into a wall, following up with a shower of blasts. Danny phased from his lying down position into the ground and came out of the wall next to Jack, releasing him from his binds by melting off the metal with his power.

"No!" Plasmius hissed and shot at Danny's side, throwing him down once more.

"Danny!" exclaimed Jack and ran towards him a few paces.

"Get out of here, Dad! Open the cage with Mom and Jazz, disable the shield, and get out of here!" He was locked in a test of fire-power with his arch-enemy.

"Mom?" Maddie murmured.

"That's Danny, Mom," Jazz told her quietly. "My brother. Your son."

"You won't get away with this!" shouted Vlad in outrage. He tripped Jack up with a shot in his direction. "Even if they do escape, I can still kill you. Then who will protect them?"

"Then… I'll… just have to stop you!" Danny announced with much effort. Vlad was still far more powerful than he was. It was going to take a miracle to stop him.

They struggled with the ecto-blast collision a little more before Danny let go and turned intangible. Vlad moved swiftly towards him and punched him as he became tangible again, before Danny realized what his opponent was doing. He went pelting to the ceiling but stopped himself with his feet from hitting it. He pushed off and zoomed straight downwards at Vlad and grabbed him, turning them both intangible and carrying them through the floor.

Maddie let out a tiny scream. "Where'd they go?"

"No time, Mom, we've got to get out of here," said Jazz.

"But what about Danny?" asked Jack, concerned as he freed them from the cage.

"Danny's strong. He can take care of himself," Jazz answered confidently to reassure her parents. But deep down, she knew that Plasmius was no Box Ghost. Danny would be lucky to get out of this alive with Vlad actually bent on killing him. She feared for her brother, but knew she had to get their parents out of there if Danny would have any chance. Them being there would only distract him.

"You knew about this, Jazzerina?" Jack inquired. "Why did Danny hide it from us?"

She bit her lower lip trying to find an answer, then came back to her senses. "_Later_, Dad, we have to get out now. You heard what Danny said."

And the Fentons clambered up the stairs towards the exit of the secret lab.

Danny had dragged Vlad into his movie theatre. They had a couple of bouts there, destroying most of the room, then Danny raced back towards the lab, hoping that his family was now out of there. In the few seconds he had before Plasmius caught up, Danny fiddled with the knobs on the Ghost Portal, moving them out of the position safe for activating the door. Vlad swooped down on him and pinned him to the ground.

"How much longer must we do this, Daniel? How much longer till you admit defeat?"

"How much longer till you admit you were wrong? How much longer till you stop being a crazed up fruitloop?"

Vlad's grip hardened on Daniel's arms for that, and he pressed him further into the floor. "I… Am… Not… A… FRUITLOOP!"

He shot beams out of his eyes that grazed Danny's cheek and upper neck as he moved his head to the side. It stung, but Danny wasn't going to give in.

"Let it go, Plasmius. There's nothing left here. You still have a choice! You don't have to kill me and my family."

"And you still have a choice. You could die the easy way, or the hard way."

"I didn't want to have to do this…" muttered Danny. He lifted his knees and forced Vlad off of him, then grabbed his wrist and swung him into the Ghost Portal, flipping the switch to "on". But, because of the settings being messed up, the Portal didn't open, and instead a blinding flash of ecto-energy filled the entrance to the Portal, zapping Plasmius. The man collapsed and became human again. He was unconscious.

Danny fell to his knees. He wasn't sure what effect that would have, and he didn't think he had much time till Vlad woke up again. Without thinking, his hand traveled to the open cut on his cheek. He winced when it made contact. Suddenly a plan formed in his mind, and he knew what he had to do. It really would take a miracle for it to work.

Jazz led her parents through Vlad's mansion. All three of them wondered what was happening in the fight down below, and it was frustrating that they couldn't do anything about it. When they got to the front door, they stopped.

"We need a car or something," stated Maddie.

"Maybe we could borrow one of V-man's… uh, I mean, Vlad's…" Jack corrected himself in a subdued manner.

"I know where we can find the vehicles," said Jazz. "But, we'll have to go back inside. Stay alert and follow me."

Danny was concentrating hard. It needed to be perfect and it needed to happen now. _Ok, here goes_, he thought. His body became a white light, which separated into two equal forms, the same height and shape as the original Danny. When the light faded, two Danny's stood next to each other. He did it!

"The quickest way back to my place is through the Ghost Zone," he muttered to himself.

The two Danny's each grabbed one of Vlad's arms and pulled him out of the Portal entrance. They rested him against a wall and one went to tweak the knobs back to their proper position. The other stood in front of the Portal. Danny then flicked the switch to "on" again, and the Portal became the green swirl to the Ghost Zone. The Danny standing in front of it flew in, while his other self walked back to Vlad to stand guard.

_Well, if there's one good thing Vlad did today, he let all the ghosts out of the Ghost Zone, so I don't have to worry about running into them now_, Danny thought. He picked up his pace and raced back home.

The Fentons found the room full of SUVs and hopped into one. Jack muddled around for the keys, and Maddie spotted them. They started up the car and tore through the door.

"What are we going to do about Danny, Jack? I'm so worried about him."

"Me too, Maddie. But I feel defenseless without our gear."

"Danny's been in way tough situations before," announced Jazz. "There was the Ghost King, and his older, evil self…"

"Danny has an older, evil self?" wondered Jack.

"Remember the CAT's? If Danny had cheated on them, he would've become evil and heartless and a full ghost, because we would've all died, I think. But, Danny stopped that timeline from happening and he stopped his older self. I don't think _that_ Danny exists anymore," she shuddered. "Good thing too, because he was _really_ powerful and he could disguise himself very well."

Danny had arrived home. He had to act quickly now. The lab was in disarray from the earlier battle, but he found what he needed and took it with him as he hurried back.

The other Danny was considering putting Vlad into the tank where he had been, to keep him locked up, should he wake soon. But, if he were to wake in that thing, it would make the situation more complicated. No, better to hold him off out here while he waited for the stuff he needed. Maybe Vlad would stay knocked out? No such luck. The man on the ground began to stir, and Danny took on a defensive position. Fighting him would be much harder with his powers split, but Vlad didn't have to know that.

Everything was blurry at first when he opened his eyes. His lab slowly came swimming back into view, and with it, Daniel, standing over him. Did the boy _actually_ beat him? No, that was not possible… it was the Portal… he did something to the Portal when Vlad was in it. How long had he been out for? And why on Earth was Danny still standing there, looking down on him? Why hadn't he done something to him? Why hadn't he left yet? Did he do something to him? Was he finding pleasure in this?

The last thought incensed Vlad and he came back to full alertness, blasting at Danny before becoming ghost once again. Danny blocked the attack with a shield and Plasmius had to dodge the rebound. He flew up above Danny and bombarded him with more shots. Danny used a shield again, and then went intangible when he couldn't hold it any longer. Plasmius dove down on him, and tried to grapple with him. Danny practiced evasive maneuvers, doing a back-flip, then jumping to the side.

He wasn't attacking? No matter, Vlad wouldn't let him leave here alive, now that he'd chosen to stay. He shot another powerful blast at Danny and hit him straight on this time. Danny was thrown back against the wall, where he became a puff of smoke. _What?_

Vlad barely registered what had happened before the other Danny zoomed back into the lab and swung the Fenton Catcher through him. Vlad's voice reverberated around the room as the ectoplasmic portion of his body was ripped away. Two Vlad's now faced Danny, one human, and one ghost. The human Vlad ducked for cover, and watched from behind a counter in shock as Danny took on the ghost.

Without his human emotions, Danny knew Plasmius had become an even tougher opponent. Plasmius attacked with vengeance, and now he really _wasn't_ holding back. Danny pulled the Specter-Deflector out of his backpack, but Plasmius knocked it away. To evade him, Danny turned invisible, and reappeared with the Fenton Fisher, which he used to tangle up the ghost. Plasmius screeched and broke free, soaring to Danny who barely had time to grab the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick, and aim a good swing at Plasmius. He hit him hard in the stomach then shot a blast at him. Danny grabbed the Fenton Thermos, but Plasmius tore it out of his hands and threw it to the ground. He blasted Danny into the counter where his counterpart was cowering. Danny stood up, exhausted, and unleashed a ghostly wail.

_He must be desperate_, thought Vlad. _That attack will drain him of the rest of his energy. It's his last resort_. And somewhere else in his mind lingered a question, _So, what are you going to do about it?_ He blinked. _It's almost over_.

The ghostly wail forced Plasmius against the far wall. But that's all it did, before Danny collapsed, returning to his human mode. Plasmius had been weakened a little bit, but not as much as Danny was, and he stood up again from where he fell after a moment, ready to finish off the boy. But taking him by surprise was his human self. Vlad, held the Fenton Thermos open and pointed at Plasmius. The ghost was sucked up before he realized what was happening and before he could resist. Vlad capped the Thermos, set it down on a counter, and then bent down to check on Danny.

"I… knew you were… good," the boy whispered. "I knew you… cared…"

Vlad lifted Danny into his arms and brought him to a chair. He sat him down and kneeled before him. Tears were streaming uncontrollably down his face. "Daniel… I… I'm so sorry…"

"It's ok… Uncle Vlad… you still have people… who… can love you…"

The boy closed his eyes, and added as an afterthought, "And… I still think… you… should get… a cat." He laughed softly before falling unconscious.

Vlad embraced Danny, crying freely. Without his ghost side, all that hatred, obsession, contempt… none of it mattered anymore. He lifted the boy and brought him upstairs to a bed. He tended to the wound he'd made on Danny's cheek and throat.

When the Fentons eventually arrived home, they found a message on their answering machine from the recognized Wisconsin area code.

"_Maddie… Jack… Jazzmine… I am so sorry for… everything I put you through… Young Daniel is safe and fast asleep… The poor little Badger used up nearly all his energy in an attempt to save me… …and he succeeded…_"

-(-)-

Broken

Broken, my trust in our friendship  
Broken, my heart has split in two  
Alone, I am a broken man  
Insane, the barrier of reality is broken

And I can do anything  
In my grief  
I will destroy you  
In my anger  
You haunt my past, my present, and my future

Escape, my desire to leave what's broken  
Mistake, we both have broken something special  
Broken, I am a worthless wretch  
Broken, yet you have saved me, all the same

-(-)-

Golden Lunar Eclipse


End file.
